THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER HAS ARRIVED!
MARCH 31, 2004
They told us they would be here about 10…maybe even 9:30. So we really weren’t too surprised when the finally arrived at 10:45. Even though Art had been pacing all morning like an expectant father, I figured it would get here when it got here, why worry? This is a big change for me, but I think it’s a change for the better.
I was hoping they would bring in the small bookcase first so that I could busy myself with filling the shelves while the other, larger entertainment center was being assembled in the living room. Of course, that didn’t happen. And, when they brought the first piece of the entertainment center up the stairs, things started to look…doubtful. The unit was built as three pieces, with the shorter piece in the center for the TV, and the two taller end pieces being joined by shelves. And it looked like the tall pieces weren’t going to fit in the door! The unit was too tall and the hall was too narrow to allow for much turning or maneuvering. Hmmmm…..
Then they started to look for alternatives, and decided that maybe they could move their truck, stand on the top of it, and lift the piece through the living room window/door. Art volunteered Gioberto and the guys across the street to help, and they started to put the plan into motion. Gioberto brought over two wide, long planks of wood to use as a bridge. I tried not to look, but of course had to so that I could take pictures.
Then, for whatever reason, the two delivery guys decided to try one more way, this time at a slightly different angel, and guess what? It worked! Now Gioberto had to remove this “bridge” and go back to his “real” job. The rest would be easy. But not necessarily quick. It took them about three hours to assemble the three pieces into one unit, add the supports for the center shelves, the brackets for the drop-down doors, and the hardware.
We had a few questions/problems….first, where did the “extra” shelf go? And why wasn’t there a smaller shelf for above the TV…the one that was supposed to hold the VCR and DVD player? It was right there in the picture, but the shelf we had clearly did not work there, and after measuring, we discovered that NOTHING would fit below the larger shelf that was already installed. We finally ended up putting that “extra” shelf in between two existing shelves because the VCR and DVD player would fit there, and we would still have shelf space above. But still, it wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. And where were the shelves for inside the lower cabinets? The ones we had talked about with Francesco, for the printer and paper storage? They too were in the pictures, but the delivery men didn’t have them, and didn’t know anything about them. The delivery men promised to come back with the missing shelves at a later time. Great…does this mean I’ll have to wait to hook up my printer?
We offered the deliverymen lunch, but they told us they didn’t have time…they had another appointment and didn’t want to be late. Wonder if they had an appointment before us, or if they just got a late start? After everything was assembled, they brought up the small bookshelf for the hall, and left. Now the fun would begin.
Art had been splicing and running the wiring for the speakers for two days. We had decided to run additional speakers into the kitchen, just because it would be so easy. Famous last words. When we were out yesterday, he bought more wire, but then discovered that it wasn’t enough. This was one of those tongue-biting times…I would rather have three feet too much than be one foot short, OR, I would have measured first. Art just bought some wire and was quite surprised when he discovered that he was WAY short. Lots of muttering.
Today, he decided to go ahead and place the bass unit behind the chair. He had been playing with the idea of just leaving it behind the door, which would mean that the door would always be slightly afar. (NO, that’s NOT a joke!) I hadn’t liked that idea at all, and suggested that if he didn’t want to run the wires around the doorway and along the baseboard, we could just put the bass unit inside the cabinet and would just have to open the cabinet door when we used the stereo. Apparently, he didn’t like this idea any more than I had liked his. Personally, I didn’t see what the big deal was…after all, he was going to run the wires for the rear speakers around the door frame and along the baseboard, so why not one more? And that’s what we ended up with. Well, what we will end up with once we finally get enough wire.
Art made ANOTHER trip for wire today, and once again grossly underestimated his needs. No, that’s wrong, because he really didn’t estimate at all. And when he told me who much the wire cost, I had a really hard time biting my tongue…at the price he told me, I would have bought a whole roll and never had to worry about speaker wire for the rest of my life. Lots more muttering. And I knew what was coming next…..
Since we have to go back to Marsciano anyway, let’s go to Ternana’s for dinner. Okay, so what happened to the new decision to not eat carbs at dinner? Oh yeah, this is an exception. Except we just started that rule today. Didn’t take long for that exception! Okay, we go back to the electronics place, and can you believe it, they only have a few feet left! There’s another store around the corner, so we try there, and Art says he’s going to get 10 meters. “Are you SURE that’s enough?” I ask. Okay, we get 20 meters…at a total cost of less than five euro!
So now, we’re home, after a quick pizza at Ternana’s, and Art is still laying down the wire. He’s going to need a hot soak and a massage after all the bending and twisting he’s done today. Oh, and I forgot to mention the fun time we had when we got ready to re-connect all the audio-video equipment. I had suggested that Art write down all the connections, since we had such a difficult time getting everything exactly right. But of course, he didn’t. He would remember. But I was the one behind the cabinet, connecting the wires, and nothing seemed to fit where he said it should. Eventually, we pushed the cabinet out a little further, and I let him be the one to re-connect everything.
I can’t start to put stuff away in the entertainment center, because we still have to push it back against the wall when everything is connected. So I’m blogging. I did hook up the computer in its designated spot, but not the printer. Since we left the area behind the computer uncovered, it won’t be hard to reach around to make the connections. Maybe tomorrow I can start printing out all the things I’ve been saving for months! Flight info and travel notes. Itineraries and restaurant addresses. The manual for the VCR, and also for the telephone. Maybe even a photo or two, just to see the quality of my “photo quality” printer.
And I know that all the stuff isn’t going to fit in the designated space, so I’ll have to figure out what will go here, and what will go elsewhere. Then I’ll have to figure out where the “elsewhere” stuff will go! I have picture albums, and books, computer manuals, paper for the printer, family photos, and still more knick-knacks…didn’t I get rid of all that stuff?!? And what about the “office” stuff? The receipts and warranties and bank statements? And I still haven’t figured out where the phone will go…Art suggested in the area with the computer, which would mean either the door would have to stay open all the time, or else we would have to open the door every time the phone rang. I’m not crazy about that idea, so we’re considering other options. Maybe a small shelf mounted on the wall beside the entertainment center. But of course we have to wait until the entertainment center is pushed back to it’s proper place to decide for sure.
And I still have to hang the rest of the family pictures in the hall. And Art’s matchbook holder…although the matchbooks are still in the states. And the small curio shelf we bought in Bevagna last weekend. And here I thought we were almost finished!
TELEVISION IN ITALY
I was recently asked why we chose to subscribe to the Italian SKY TV instead of the British version. The answer is very simple: MONEY. When we compared the costs, and thought about the time we would actually spend watching TV, the choice was easy.
We are still not quite sure about our monthly expenses, but we are definitely living on a fixed income and with the exchange rate being what it is, we need all the help we can get. As near as we could figure, the total cost for the British SKY would have been well over $100 per month. Since we don’t plan on watching a lot of TV in general, and since neither package offered Art what he really wanted, which was the US version of CNN, we didn’t see any reason to pay the additional costs. And with the Italian Sky, we still have many Italian channels, which we like to watch in order to help our Italian.
Here’s what the breakdown looked like for the two systems: For British SKY, the decoder box cost 400 BP (British pounds…I still don’t have my keyboard hooked up, and can’t get the laptop keyboard to make the pound symbol!) Although it’s possible to buy a used decoder box, or to rent one for a monthly fee, let’s just go with the 400BP for now. The cost of the basic, all around package with a good selection of everything costs 38BP. There are cheaper packages available, but this is the one we would most likely have selected. Now comes the interesting part.
In order to LEGALLY receive this service, you must have a British address. When I contacted SKY directly and told them I lived in Italy, they responded that it was illegal for me to have their service. Enter a dealer in Italy, who assures me that SKY is well aware of their huge subscriber list in Italy. He directs me to his site, where I learn that for a yearly fee of 125BP, his company can supply me with a British address. Let’s call that 10BP per month, just to keep the math simple. Then there’s an ADDITIONAL maintenance fee of 17BP per month…not quite sure what that is but…And of course you’ll have to pay someone to come and install your dish and set it up…who knows how much that runs? 100 euro? More?
Add all these fees up, and it comes to an initial outlay of the 400BP for the system, PLUS whatever is costs for the installation, PLUS a monthly fee of 38BP + 10BP + 17BP for a total of 65BP per month. With the British Pound now going for $1.80, that makes the monthly fee about $117…..OUCH!!! Even with a cheaper package, it’s still $100 per month, more or less. And Art still doesn’t have the “real” CNN.
So then we looked at SKY Italia…yes they too have the international CNN, and also CNBC. They also offer the official network of the Republican Party, FOX, and several Discovery Channels that are (mostly) in English. And quite an assortment of Italian channels, of course. We got the sports package, because it promised NCAA basketball, but what it mostly offers is LOTS and LOTS of soccer. Unless there’s lots of baseball this summer, I don’t know it the sports package will be a keeper or not. And music channels…quite a variety of those…they even have golden oldies. And the cost for this version?
The decoder box AND installation was 169 euro, and the monthly cost is 34 euro. Oh, and they do have pay per view, just in case we want to catch a movie. So, for our needs this was the way to go. I don’t think we’ll ever add the movie channel package, and I’m not so sure we’ll even keep the sports package, which would reduce our monthly costs, but I don’t remember by how much. Anyway, bottom line was the price, and that’s how we made our decision. At least now we get a great picture…our reception before varied from okay to terrible, depending on how the wind was blowing. And now Art can keep up with the US news, one of his favorite pastimes. Even if it is the international version.
COURAGE AND HEALTH CARE
MARCH 29, 2004
Quite often we receive emails from people who have read our blog and have questions or comments. The question we hear most often is concerning health care, and the comment we hear most often is how brave we are to have made this move.
Since many of the people who are contemplating moving to Italy are our age and older, health care is certainly a valid concern. Art and I are lucky enough to have been able to maintain our health insurance through the Post Office. The reason I say “lucky” is because the Post Office has very reasonable insurance rates, even for retirees. Even though the cost of our health insurance takes a nice sized chunk out of our monthly pension, we think that it’s worth maintaining this coverage. If we were to discontinue our health insurance through the Post Office, we would be unable to resume coverage at a later date. Since we don’t know what the future will bring, for now we are keeping this coverage.
Since we have only been in Italy for six months, we can’t know for sure how our plan will work for the long term, but for now, this is our plan: Art still orders his prescriptions by mail order. So far we have picked them up when we have returned to the states, but at some point, we will need to have someone mail us these prescriptions. We also know that we can’t list “prescriptions” on the customs form, or the package will be denied entry. Maybe once we enter the Italian healthcare system, we can get some of the medications in Italy, possibly at a lower cost.
We hope to return to the States twice a year, once at Christmas, and once again in May, or, if I can talk Art into it, in July/August. During these two visits we plan to have our regular check-ups…dental care, eye exams, general check-ups, as well as any specialist visits we might need. Once we reach the appropriate age, we will also apply for Medicare, although I don’t know much about that system at all.
We do want to enter into the Italian healthcare system too. So far, we just haven’t been able to coordinate days and times, but this is high on our priority list. In order to receive a handicapped parking permit, Art will need to be seen and certified by an Italian doctor. For us, the main benefit of having a handicapped parking sticker will be a reduction on our car tax. This is something we learned about through an article on the Informer website. (www.informer.it)
Hopefully as our Italian improves, the thought of dealing with an Italian doctor will become less daunting. We have already had our first experience with the Italian healthcare system when we were injured in a car accident. We know that healthcare here is much different than healthcare in the U.S. We know that we have to bring our own aspirin with us to the hospital, and our own food. We know that tests are not ordered like they are in the states. This may be good news and bad news…how do you know if a specific test might be helpful? We have to learn how to ask the questions, and to seek other opinions. One of the students in my Italian class had to return to the U.S. for extensive medical treatment after an injury to her hand was treated incorrectly here in Italy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this could never happen in the U.S…..I think we all know that it can and does happen, all the time, BUT… at least when you know the language and the “normal” procedure, you can do some research, ask your friends and family for recommendations, call in other doctors, etc. For some, this may be a scary situation. Right now we are both in relatively good health, and plan to enjoy our lives in Italy for as long as we can. Should the time ever come when our circumstances change and we need to be in the States for medical reasons, then we’ll move back. This brings me to the second thing I wanted to write about…our “bravery” and “courage” in moving to Italy.
When people comment about how brave we are, or what courage it took to sell everything and just move to Italy, we’re always a little amused. For us, it wasn’t really a choice. We weren’t that brave….really. For us, Italy just exerted such a powerful draw that we were powerless to resist. We just did what we HAD to do….we HAD to live in Italy, end of story. I know it doesn’t make sense, but honestly, that’s the best way I can explain it. When you feel something so strongly and so deeply, then you must simply follow your heart and see where it leads you. Life is such a gamble…who knows when they fall in love if that love will last? Statistics seem to indicate that for at least half of us, it won’t last. But even though living together has become much more common and much more acceptable, people continue to get married. Hope springs eternal! And who among us is working at the job we thought we would be working at? Or even the job we studied for? Isn’t it strange how our lives seem to take these strange (and wonderful) twists and turns?
When Art and I first met, over fifteen years ago, I never thought I’d travel to anywhere but Great Britain. Art loved Hawaii and San Francisco. And I had never even been to Florida! For our first European trip, when Art suggested Istanbul, Kelly (Art’s daughter) and I both turned up our noses at the thought of such an uncivilized, remote place. Since that first trip (when we did NOT go to Istanbul) we have visited fifteen countries at last count. And Turkey is among those fifteen, and one that I would love to visit again! Two amazing facts about us and Italy: #1, we never had ANY desire to visit Italy. As Art says, all we had heard about Italy was that it was dirty and the trains were always late. And #2, since our first trip to Italy, in September 2000, we haven’t added ANY new countries! We just kept returning to Italy over and over…work was just a necessary evil to allow us to earn enough money, and enough time off, to visit again. So, here we are…In Italy, a place neither of us ever thought we would even visit, much less live in! We’re here because we’ve followed our hearts, not because we’re brave. We’re having the time of our lives! And to those of you who STILL don’t get it, well, I guess all I can say is…I’m sorry….and I hope that at some point in your life, something will stir your soul like Italy has stirred ours.
And a Post Script: Before I could post this, the fruit and vegetable truck came…and I now have FRESH garlic! I never even knew there was such a thing! Well, you know what I mean! It smells wonderful! I’ll add it with fresh onions to the potatoes for dinner tonight…what do you want to bet it tastes WONDERFUL?!
SPRING IS SLOWLY ARRIVING
MARCH 25, 2004
Not a lot to report. After three false starts, Art FINALLY got the TV/VCR/DVD/satellite hooked up correctly, programmed correctly and set correctly! This morning he watched the NBC nightly news from last night! It was a struggle each day trying to figure out what went wrong, but that situation is certainly not unique to Italy. We’ve had the same challenges in the states whenever we added a new piece of equipment!
Today we went to Marsciano…I had an appointment for a haircut at 10…we found out that Corrina at the chocolate factory also gets her hair cut by Walter! He must be the man! Anyway, while I was getting my hair cut, Art filled up the car, exchanged a terra cotta saucer for one of the planters, and refilled our five liter jug of wine. When he picked me up, we stopped by the fresh pasta store…YES! There is one in Marsciano!!! We had been complaining about not having a fresh pasta store ever since we stumbled across the one in Orvieto, and it was here all the time! It’s near the Coop, but tucked back on a side street and is difficult to see. By chance, I just happened to notice it last week, and today was our third visit. I wanted to get some fresh lasagna, and thought that it had to be ordered.
Yesterday I stopped in to place my order, and the girl kept asking me what I wanted with the lasagna, and I kept saying, no, I only want lasagna! I finally figured out that the stuff you have to order in advance is a complete, oven-ready lasagna, not just the pasta. Nice to know for future reference! I bought a half kilo of lasagna noodles, which is enough to make two batches in the pan I put it in. Lasagna may become my “company” dinner since it’s easy to prepare ahead of time.
I made my first batch of “Italian style” lasagna last week. This means that there was no ricotta cheese in sight, and instead used a béchamel sauce. I also used a meat sauce that was made with béchamel. This, and the meat, are what make a Bolognese sauce different from marinara sauce, I think. I cheated and used a pre-made béchamel…I wonder how much better it would be with a homemade sauce? Maybe next time. Anyway, other than being too runny, the lasagna tasted great! I hope to perfect my technique so that I get those nice, neat layered pieces when it’s cut.
Today is a beautiful day. Yesterday and Tuesday were cold, windy, and rainy. We saw some fierce lightning on Tuesday night, and yesterday we had bits of ice frozen to the windshield! Since the girl came from the garden center yesterday, I hope that her plans and the nice weather arrive at about the same time. I can’t believe my geraniums survived this cold snap…they are sitting in the windowsill, protected from the worst of the weather, though, and the alyssum seeds I sprinkled in there are actually sprouting!
We’re anxious to get the garden planted because in four weeks we will return to the states for a four week visit. I’m hoping to find someone to water them at least once while we’re gone…I’d hate to come back and find out that everything had died! We did find a nice place very close to us to buy some terra cotta planters. It’s in Ripabianca, and was recommended to us by the man In Deruta from whom we bought our dishes.
We had to return one of our plates that had cracked, and Massimo was very gracious about it. He told us that often, when it’s quiet in the shop, he’ll hear a “CRACK!”, and all you can do is look around and wonder which piece it was! Now I understand why he “tested” each piece when we bought our dishes by balancing each piece on his fingertips and pinging the edge. The “ring” you hear lets you know the piece it good…as compared to the dull “thunk” we heard when our cracked piece was tapped!
As we walked into the ceramic shop, there were several Americans who were just finishing up their shopping. The tourist season has begun! We’re starting to see the tour buses on the road, and as we get closer to Easter, they will increase every week. This will be our first summer here, and will be interesting in many respects. We’ll feel the heat of the summer, and see just how much cooler San Venanzo is than the towns down below. We’ll see the difference on the roads…bicyclists will be out, especially on the weekends, and can really slow down traffic on the windy, hilly roads. We’ll also see the difference on the larger roads, as tourists and tour buses join with the residents. Since we know first-hand how little patience the Italian drivers have with those who are driving too slowly, it will be interesting to see how they handle the tourists and buses. We’ll also see the difference in the towns themselves…as the restaurants and streets and shops become more crowded. And since our ears are tuned to English, we’ll hear the tourists often before we actually see them. And then, should we strike up a conversation, we’ll get to add, at some point, and of course very casually, yes, we live here now. How cool is that?!
GETTING READY FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER
Okay, what else?...the entertainment center is supposed to be ready this week…at least Francesco said he would call on Wednesday or Thursday to set up a delivery time. It will be nice to get the books and DVD’s and video tapes put up…right now, everything is sitting in boxes or in piles on the floor. I do have things organized, so as soon as the entertainment center is in place, I can start putting stuff away. Oh, and all the picture albums! I should count them to see how many we have…some trips have not one but TWO albums. I’m a picture geek though, and love to sit down and look through the old albums.
Good news! Art figured out the wiring for the TV/DVD/VCR/Satellite!!! Yeah! Normally this is my department, but for some reason, he was the one to do it this time. We now have SCART cables for the connections, and although I know this makes things simpler, it’s also a little different than what we're used to. We wanted to have all the peripherals in place when the satellite was installed, so that everything could be hooked up correctly. We assumed that the satellite guy would know what to do….apparently not! Art tried to tape something from the satellite, and got nothing. Then we (he) had to try to figure out what cable went where, and I’m sure you know how frustrating THAT can be! After messing with it for several days, he FINALLY got it to work! Then when we went back, it didn’t work again! But, with a little fine tuning, and remembering which input to put which piece on, I think we finally have it right. We have all the manuals in English, except for the VCR. Well, we do have it in English, but it’s on the computer, and I’m waiting for the entertainment center to arrive before I hook up the printer. Trying to read the direction from the computer is not the easiest thing…you can’t flip back and forth between the pages!
Here’s an amazing realization: we’re running out of things to buy! We were going to make a trip to the store, and aside from food, couldn’t think of a thing we really needed! Wow! Yeah, we still need stuff for the garden, but I’m waiting for the guy to call from the garden center to help me plan. And yes, there’s always the odd thing you need/want when you own a house, but for now, the only major things left to do are:
1) Enlarge the shower in the white bathroom
2) Have an armadio built for our bedroom
3) Have the shutters re-varnished
4) Start replacing the windows one by one, starting with our bedroom window
5) Put in a new patio and plantings for the garden
6) Gosh, I can’t think of a number 6! We need to put up a new clothesline,
but that’s simple, so I guess that’s it! Wow!
When we were painting the fencing last weekend, all of a sudden we heard someone ask, in English, “Do you speak English?” We turned to see a car in the street with a girl hanging out the back window. Of course we said “yes” and she said, “I thought so…you didn’t look like you were from around here!” This was Belinda, an Australian girl who’s married to an Italian (Giacomo?). Anyway, they live not far from us, I think in the direction of Marsciano, and said they wanted to invite us over. We gave them our card, so hopefully we can get together with them soon. Who knew there were all these English speaking people in the area? First the British couple in Ospedaletto, then the couple from Finland, now these people!
I need to make a run to Perugina…we’d like to invite Corrina, who runs the museum there, to dinner, and I also NEED some chocolate! I think we’ll try to bring back some of those huge chocolate Easter eggs with a toy inside for Nicholas and our nieces. We’ll be back in the states in about five weeks, and will be taking empty suitcase on the way over, which will be VERY full on the way back! We still have clothes and stuff…I’m not sure what all of it is…just stuff, but anyway, we are hoping to bring the last of it with us in May. If not, well, we’ve live without it this long, so I guess another few months won’t hurt! We won’t return to the states again until December.
This trip to the states will be a little different…Art will be working at the track this time, giving me a lot more time to myself. I plan to shop and visit and lunch and enjoy myself! I’m going to visit my granddaughter in N Carolina too! And best of all, I’m taking my grandson with me! Photo opportunities galore! Right now I have a picture of the two of them as the wallpaper on my computer, but it was taken last May, and is due for an update. I’m hoping that a second visit with Siobhan (after our January visit) will help her to remember me until we visit again next December. And we’ll definitely be visiting in December, because Siobhan will have a little brother or sister by that time! Grandchildren are a BLAST! I thought my kids were great when they were little…so cute, so smart, so talented. Then I had grandkids! They are even CUTER AND SMARTER AND MORE TALENTED!!! Yes, it’s true; I’ve turned into one of those “let me tell you about my grandchildren” people!
We applied for an Italian MasterCard at the PostalBank. This was after we tried to buy the satellite system and were told that it had to be purchased with an Italian credit card…well, maybe not just Italian, but at least EU, and definitely NOT American. We decided it would be good to have an Italian credit card for such times, but we haven’t heard anything yet. Fabio did call from the Post Office to ask for the address to verify Art’s pension, so I’m thinking it might take a while. And speaking of Fabio, Art was able to get our phone card recharged last week! Of course Fabio had to call someone and they had to talk him through the process, but he did it! We’re probably the only ones in town who have ever bought this card, much less tried to recharge it! Maybe things will be easier the next time!
UPDATES PART 2
We decided to buy the small cabinet that we had seen at Rimaldini’s and decided to go ahead and pick it up on Saturday, since the bench would be ready on Monday or Tuesday, and both would not fit in the car. Also, GranCasa had called to say that our bathroom mirror was in (finally!), so we decided to pick up the mirror and cabinet, and then return on Monday or Tuesday for the bench.
As luck would have it, when we arrived at Rimaldini’s we were told that the bench was ready! So…now we had to figure out how to fit all three pieces in the car. One of the things that I DON’T like about our car is how little cargo it really holds. You would think that being a station wagon it would be large enough, but I think the fact that the sides of the car angle in really hurts the space.
We did manage to fit everything in, and once we arrived in San Venanzo, we discovered that the bench has a few scuff marks…not really scratches, just places where the paint had been rubbed. Amazingly, the paint we were using on the fence was almost an exact match, and we were able to touch up these spots with no noticeable difference! Even more amazing, the spray paint we had bought to use as a primer for the scroll-work on the gate was almost an exact match! This would mean that covering every tiny spot was not a necessity!
As I write this on Monday night, the paint is still tacky…the weather has turned cooler, and I guess the humidity has increased too. Tomorrow night the low is predicted to be 23 Fahrenheit! But then it’s back up in the 50’s after that…spring WILL make its way here, sooner or later.
On Sunday we decided to mount the glass shelves we had bought for Art’s coffee cups. Originally they were on the top of one to the cabinets, but you rally couldn’t see them very well, and the whole idea just didn’t work. Since I had been looking for an idea for over the three windows in the kitchen, I thought that narrow shelves with the coffee cups might look nice. Art agreed, and after visiting several stores, we finally found the sizes we needed, and some burnt orange brackets to used as supports.
Art thought that I was making a mountain our of a molehill with all my measuring and calculating, but I assured him that the key to this project was to hand the smaller shelf in the center FIRST, then hang the two longer pieces on either side. Being the smart man that he is, Art agreed with me, and as predicted, it turned out perfectly! The pictures are posted below. Don’t know where we’ll put any more mugs!
We also hung the small curio cabinet in the living room. This of course involved taking down a picture and the clock….but I decided it was worth it, and Art went along! He knows, if I’m happy, he’s happy! And I must say, it looks great. Between the two of us, we got the measurement figured out and the cabinet is now located above my Mom’s washstand and is filled with tiny treasures from our travels. Pictures next time!
UPDATES
MARCH 21, 2004
Although I needed to update the blog, I was planning on doing it tonight, since today was still nice, although cooler. We have been painting the small iron fences on the front porch, and today all that needed to be finished was the large gate to the back yard. While I did some touch-ups on yesterday’s work, Art started on the gate. Yesterday he was positive that masking tape would stick to the stucco, although I had my doubts. Today he decided it would be much easier to just use a wide putty knife and hold it against the wall. It really did work like a charm. After he had finished edging the front side, I started to fill in, while he edged the back side. Then it happened….I got paint on the wall…and Art was NOT happy. So, now I’m blogging and he’s painting. He really prefers it this way, and although I was really enjoying the two of us working together, I don’t take criticism very well, and he is a much better painter than I am, and much more demanding. So, here’s what’s been happening with us….
I forgot to mention that when we were cleaning up the garden last weekend, I found…and killed…two scorpions. They were both under the large patio stones, and were about an inch and a half long, I guess. I knew there were scorpions here, and we have been told that they are not deadly. I hope that’s right! Anyway, I knew enough not to work in the garden without gloves, or even in the big pile of firewood that’s in the garage…I saw my first scorpion last fall in the garage, but it was already dead.
Other dead animal news is that we ran over a snake in the road yesterday. I think it was already dead too. And did I write about the bird that few into our windshield one day? We think it was an owl, and even though we saw it coming, we both jumped when it hit. It hit the car so hard that we were both amazed that the windshield didn’t crack. I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more animals on the road, but I’m sure as the weather warms up, it will be more and more of a problem.
Other, more pleasant news is that we have met another couple who have a house in Ospedaletto. They’re from Finland, and we initially “met” them through the SlowTalk message board when they posted to ask if anyone could recommend workers for some projects they have planned. Since Ospedaletto is only 10kms up the road, we were sure that Mauro would be able to help them, so we sent them his name and number.
As it turns out, they were planning to come for a week in order to get the house set up…they plan to live here during the summer with their four children. We told them to give us a call if they some free time, and last Wednesday we went to the house of Pia and Marco for coffee.
The house is magnificent….a beautiful stone house with beamed ceilings, terra cotta floors, a HUGE fireplace, and fantastic views! Pia and Marco plan to use this house for summer vacations, maybe Christmas vacations, and will also share the house with Marco’s parents. The parents were here in November for several weeks, and brought some furniture with them. They came by car….which Pia and Marco will also do this summer. This involves taking a ferry from Finland, which is a 24 hour journey, then driving from Germany to Umbria, which I think takes about 16 hours! What a trip! Anyway, when they come in the summer, this will allow them to have their own car, and save the expense of a rental.
We really enjoyed meeting them, and arranged to have dinner with them that night at Ternana’s in Marsciano. Although they are a few years younger than us, and still raising a family, we seemed to agree on many things, especially music…Marco is a major music buff, and likes all kinds of music. We discovered that we like many of the same artists, and will probably do some CD swapping once they arrive for the summer.
They also told us about a great place to shop for furniture, iron, and ceramics, and for that we are eternally grateful! How we missed this place, we don’t know, but now we’ve been told! Pia and Marco have a beautiful iron table with a tile top that we just fell in love with, and they told us they had bought it at a place that looked like a junkyard, and was just past GranCasa. Since Art had suggested that we put a small bench just outside the front door, we thought this would be the perfect place to find it.
Once we pulled in to the parking lot, we were enthralled! Terra cotta planters of every size and shape imaginable. Urns…all sizes and finishes, from the very simple to the extremely ornate. Fountains to hang on a garden wall…out of many different materials. And iron…chairs, beds, tables of all shapes and sizes, tops for the tables in ceramics and mosaics…and on and on. Inside was an assortment of furniture and knick-knacks. And the best news was that everything seemed to be very reasonably priced. Where to begin?
We started with the tables, but soon decided that this would be the last thing we would buy, not the first. We still have to plant the garden and put in a new patio…and we don’t even have a plan for either one yet! We did get some idea of the prices, though, and now I’m not sure that I want to spend quite that much on a table for the garden. We’ll see. We then asked about a simple bench…we had seen one on our stroll though the lot…it looked like a simple park bench, with no arms. The price? 100 euro. Did we want it in black, or maybe in green? Once we saw that the green was very similar to the color we wanted to use on the fence, it was a no-brainer…green, please.
Next we looked at some terra cotta pots, and bought a large rectangular one and a large round one for by the front door. This way, once we are finished painting, we can move them into place and plant something! I’m dying to start planting!
Inside, I had seen a small shelf unit that I liked, and I took the measurements for further thought. I bought a copper tea kettle and a lighter weight bedspread for the summer. We knew we would have to return on Monday or Tuesday after the bench was painted, but that was enough for now!
We stopped by Obi and bought the anti-rust paint for the fence, a wire brush to scrape the rusty spots, and a cheap paint brush. We had our project ready to go!
Today we installed three glass shelves to display Art's coffee mug collection. They were on top of the kitchen cabinet we had built, but you couldn't really see most of the cups, and I just didn't like it. Then I got this inspiration.....we think it turned out pretty good...the fact that the three shelves lined up perfectly was a miracle!
SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!
March 15, 2004...The Ides of March
Well, even though I was beginning to doubt that it would ever get here, spring has finally arrived! We worked in the yard on Sunday, pulling up all the old stuff so that we can start over. There were daffodils that are probably ancient, all foliage and no flowers! and tons of some woody type of perennial that has large leaves and small pink flowers. I have no idea what this plant is, but the planters in front of our house are full of them, and I decided to just get rid of everything in the back yard.
Art wants to re-do the patio. Right now it’s just large, concrete squares, and although it’s not the best looking patio around, I figure once you put out the patio furniture and some potted plants, who’s going to notice, but Art is adamant. We asked at the hardware store to see how much this project would cost, but the girl told us for this small a job, we should just go to Corciano and buy the blocks directly from the factory! We didn’t get the specific location, but we can always ask the next time we’re there…I know it won’t be too hard to find.
We need to stop by Mauro’s office to see if we are supposed to buy an outdoor light fixture…that was one of the projects that was put off until nicer weather arrived. And I guess we’ll need to talk with the door/window guy abut replacing these windows one by one. We still need to have the shutters re-varnished…another nice weather project. Our bedroom window needs to be replaced, as does the window in the blue bathroom. If we could get those two windows, and the ones in the kitchen replaced before next winter, I’d be happy. The new windows would be double-paned, and therefore warmer. Since I have no idea how much these window will cost, I don’t know if this is a feasible plan or not. Eventually we would also like to replace the hall window and the two window/doors that are in the living room and guest room too.
Fabio stopped by today and installed the sink in the garage. He told us he was in bed with the flu last week, and is still not feeling 100%. Since I fought my cold for a good week, I can understand. Art was so glad he asked Fabio to put the sink in…it cost us twenty euro and was worth every penny! Having the right tools makes any job easier, and knowing how to use those tools makes the work simple. Our supply of tools, and our knowledge of how things work in Italy are both very limited.
The reason we went to the hardware store was to buy some garden tools. I was using two hands tools to dig up the plants on Sunday, and our neighbor Armando lent us his hoe and pitchfork, which really made the job easier. We decided we needed to get some tools of our own…all we have so far is a leaf rake. Today we bought a hoe and a shovel. The standard way to buy these things is to buy the handle and the work end separately. I was familiar with the concept, but you don’t see it much in the states any more. What really surprised me was the way they sell garden hoses…the hose comes without any couplings on either end…it’s just a hose. The hose that’s in the garage, attached to the sink, has a clamp around the end of it, and when you want to put it on the faucet, you just tighten the clamp. This works fine as long as you don’t turn the water on too hard! And of course you can’t do the wash your car, turn off the hose at the sprayer end sort of thing!
We went to the garden center today, but a lot of their annuals are not in yet, which surprised me. The guy said they’ll arrive in April….I was sure Italy would be a little ahead of Kentucky, but I guess not. We did buy some geraniums for the window boxes I want to put outside the kitchen windows. They were two euro apiece, which I thought was cheap. Geraniums always seem to be fairly expensive in Louisville. I did find out that they have most of the things I’m looking for…I took a garden book with pictures and the Latin names, just to be sure. I was surprised when the man told me that hostas wouldn’t grow here. At first he said it got too cold, but when I told him that it got just as cold, if not colder, in Kentucky, he explained that it’s the type of cold, and that the wet, humid winters of San Venanzo have something to do with it. Since the ground doesn’t freeze, they probably rot away. Since our back yard is mostly shade, this was certainly a disappointment. Oh well, if everything was the same as it was in the states, what would be the point?
Very large and VERY heavy concrete edging blocks were used in the yard to create flower beds along the fence. These will go! They just make the yard look too small, as if it weren’t already small enough. And the large lumpy and porous rocks that encircled every tree will be removed too. And the benches that are made of stacked up bricks and concrete slabs…ugh!
We have several trees in our backyard...all tall juniper trees I think. They add no interest, little shade, and a lot of mess. One of them is half dead, and we were hoping to have it removed by the commune when they cut down the dead trees in the park behind our house, but no one seems to know when this will happen. Our neighbor Armando didn’t even seem sure that it would be this year! He told us that we would only be allowed to remove the dead tree and one other, a tree that’s close to the house, and could therefore cause damage with its roots. He said the forestale people would NOT be happy if we cut down the others. As usual, we don’t know if this meant we CAN’T cut down trees that are on our property, or if this is just his opinion. Italians are highly opinionated people, and never hesitate to share their opinions, at least in our experience. Maybe they feel we need all the help we can get!
The “park” behind our house isn’t really a park, but a large area owned by the commune. The only ways to get to it are through the locked gate next to our house, though another gate that doesn’t seem to be used, and finally, from the pool area of the hotel. We thought that maybe the new hotel was behind the move to have the park cleaned up and all the dead trees removed. There are quite a few dead trees back there, but also one hugely magnificent tree that must be hundreds of years old. We hope that in the summer, the shade provided by these trees will keep our house nice and cool…especially since these same trees will prevent me from having any tomato or basil plants. This was a major disappointment for me, but I’m hoping that the breezes and shade will make up for it!
They tell us there used to be a castle in this park…and some of the walls are still there. A set of very old and very steep steps leads to a lower part of the park, where there is a huge old cistern, now covered with boards. I think the area directly behind our house was the castle garden…there are bushes planted in very definite patterns, creating pathways, and I would love to see this area restored. The man around the corner (curve, really) from us was telling Art that there used to be an arch over the road right by our garage, and said that there are old pictures showing this. I need to find out who has those pictures…I would love to see them! We knew there was a 12th century castle in San Venanzo, up by the commune. All that remains now is the tower, and one wall. I would guess that the area behind our house was part of the same complex, but don’t know for sure. I hope to find out more about this castle, and the history of San Venanzo, as time goes by.
Everyone keeps telling us how beautiful and fragrant San Venanzo is in the spring! We were in Umbria during the last week in March and the first two weeks in April in 2000…things were just starting to bloom, and all the fields were that wonderful bright spring-green color…we can’t wait to see that again. I hate the fact that we’ll be gone for four weeks in May…I don’t want to miss a thing! My preference was to go back in July or August when it’s hot and full of tourists, but Art wants to work the Derby, so we’re going in May. At least we’ll be here when the sunflowers are in bloom…I can’t wait to see the fields full of sunflowers, and plan to take more than a few pictures.
We bought some new potatoes and green onions from the fruit and vegetable man who comes to town once a week. He drives his large truck into town and announces his arrival with a loudspeaker. He has several places where he stops, and then he just open up the side of his truck, and viola! Instant market! I was hoping that the potatoes would be the tiny new potatoes we’re used to in the states, but these were “normal” size. The green onions were what were amazing…not the green onions we’re used to, where the bulb is just slightly larger than the stalk. These onions were regular onions picked halfway through their growth. The bulb part was at least the size of a tennis ball, and they smelled wonderful. As a wonderfully decadent treat, we fried the onions and the potatoes in some olive oil…once again, deep south meets Italy, and of course, it was wonderful! The freshness of the ingredients makes the difference!
We’re going to Prague a week after we return from our visit to the states, mainly to see Paul McCartney in concert. Of all the cities he’s playing in, Prague was the one we wanted to see the most, and from what we’ve heard and read, it’s an amazing city. We hope to spend four or five days there so that we can really explore the city.
A SINK FOR THE GARAGE
Art finally gave in to peer pressure and bought a small sink for the garage. When we discovered that we would need to have a larger garage door installed, Mauro had told us that we would have to get rid of the small sink that was in the garage, close to the door. It wasn’t really a big deal for either one of us…the sink was small, and it only had cold water anyway. Art figured as long as he could keep the faucet, he could attach a hose and use it to wash the car if he wanted to. At first, we didn’t even think that it would be necessary to move the sink, but in the end, Mauro was right. Of course.
I think the first person to ask Art about the sink was Gilberto. Art told him all he needed was the faucet. Gilberto said “But what about washing your hands?” Art told him he’d just use the sink in the bathroom off the kitchen…after all, wasn’t that part of the reason we’d put in that bathroom? (And the reason that bathroom had a shower was due to Mauro’s insistence that we really NEEDED shower for when we came in from outside and were dirty. You have no idea what clean freaks and germ freaks the Italians are!)
One of Gilberto’s concerns was that if Art just left a hose attached to the faucet, the faucet might somehow get turned on, and would flood the garage. Art assured him that he would be careful. Just to be on the safe side, the next time Gilberto was by, he took the end of the hose and made sure it was inside the drain pipe. You can never be too careful.
Then our neighbor Armando asked Art about putting in a new sink. He was in the process of installing a new sink in his garage, and once again, he stressed to Art how important it would be to have someplace to wash his hands. Art and I discussed these conversations, and pretty much laughed them off. I know we didn’t put in a bidet when we built the new bathroom, but we DO have three bathrooms, thank you very much…we’re not complete pigs.
Then for some reason, Mauro stopped by one day and asked if we planned to put a new sink in the garage. And Gilberto was only to happy to give Art directions to a place in Marsciano, so Art just caved in and told me we’d have to get the sink and be done with it. Gilberto measured for us, and told us to make sure the sink was no deeper than 35 centimeters from the wall, so that the car wouldn’t hit it.
Art got the directions, and the next time we went to Marsciano, we decided to get the sink. Art said that the place we needed was just past the Polo store. We were supposed to turn left at the next street, and then there would be a circle. After that he was fuzzy, but figured we could take it from there.
Of course, once we turned left, we never saw the “circle”…whatever that was supposed to be. I had assumed it would be a round-about, but there was no round-about on that street at all. We drove further up the street…but it was all residential. At the end of the street was the community swimming pool and sports complex. We didn’t see anything that looked like a plumbing supply place or hardware store.
Art drove around the area two or three more times. No, it wasn’t in the small strip mall where the Conad was. No, it couldn’t be the Dico, that’s just a grocery store. And then it hit me….hey, I’ll bet he means that round BUILDING!!! Of course Art looked at me as if I were crazy. “What round building?” “The one right next to the Dico”, I told him. “They have plumbing supplies, I remember seeing a sign.”
And so we pulled into the parking lot for the round building next to the Dico, and sure enough, there it was. All the plumbing supplies you could ever want, with a few general building supplies thrown in for good measure. Art found just the right sized sink, got the necessary mounting hardware and drain pipes, and we were set! What a team! Now all we had to do was get Fabio back here to install it!
When Fabio stopped by a few days later, Art showed him what we had bought, and he said everything looked good. He could come back later in the week to hook everything up. He told Art “Yes, you really need a sink out there to wash your hands.”
We’re still waiting for Fabio to return, but once he does, the men of the neighborhood will be relieved that Art finally has a place to wash his hands!
SATELLITE TV, DVD PLAYERS AND MORE
In preparation for our new entertainment center being delivered, we went to the electronics store to buy the surround sound system/DVD player/VCR. We knew that the DVD player we had bought for one euro with the TV wouldn’t play our U.S, zone 1 DVD’s, but Art had seen a surround sound system that had a DVD player AND a VCR. We knew that we could have the DVD player “hacked” for 20 euro to play our DVD’s, so that wasn’t a big consideration. I wasn’t wild about having everything together…being the negative person that I am, my first thought was, “what happens when one of them stops working?” But, in the name of saving space, and in the name of saving money, I decided to go along.
As luck would have it, the system we had seen was sold out! So, Art looked around, and found another system that had only the DVD player, and then a separate VCR. Amazingly, these two things cost less than the system we had originally seen. We tried one of our DVD’s to see if it would play, but unfortunately, no. Oh well, just figure an extra 20 euro. And with the money we saved, we were able to buy the stands for the rear speakers and still save money.
Art also went ahead and started the ball rolling for the satellite TV. After filling out all the paperwork, we discovered that we couldn’t pay with our credit card! We couldn’t figure it out…we had bought quite a few things in this store, always with the credit card. Then we discovered that it was because ours was a foreign credit card…but no, that couldn’t be right either. Then we discovered that it was the SKY TV people who wouldn’t accept the foreign credit card, not the store itself. Okay, what are our options? We made a quick trip to the nearest Postal ATM, and just paid the set-up fee in cash. Okay, it was a small problem, irritating, but it’s Italy. So we’re starting to expect these things.
Now we have the initial set-up paid for. The guy now tells us we’ll have to pay for a year’s worth of service in advance. Ouch, but okay. And we know: no U.S. issued credit card. Then he tells us…no cash either! What?! He explains that we’ll have to go to the Post Office and get a bollettino…not sure about that spelling, but we assume that this is something like a money order. He tells us that we’ll be contacted within 48 hours to set up installation. We go home and wait.
Since our Post Office in San Venanzo is only open in the mornings, we decide it would be best to go ahead and buy the bollettino….the salesman had told us how much our service would cost per month, and multiplied it by 12. We headed to the Post Office. If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know that this is not going to be easy. Going to the Post Office ALWAYS takes longer than we expect. It’s ALWAYS more complicated than it should be. We’ve also decided that while we’re there, we’ll go ahead and apply for an Italian MasterCard. We had the opportunity to do this when we opened our account at the Post Office, and decided we didn’t need it, but now we think it might be a good idea to have one. Of course this will add to the complications.
Once we arrive, we ask about buying the bollettino for the satellite. We’re told that we can’t buy it until we have an account number. Which I guess we won’t get until the installer comes. Okay. Move on. We ask about the credit card. Fabio is busy, and asks us to come back at 12:30. Okay, no problem. We want to talk to Fabio when he has plenty of time.
At the appointed time, we returned to the Post Office and went back to Fabio’s office. He filled out the paperwork for the MasterCard…whether we will be approved is anyone’s guess! How long it will take is also unknown. At this point, we are learning…don’t ask too many questions…keep things simple. Then I make a mistake…I break the rule…I ask a question. What I don’t understand is what if the installer comes in the afternoon, AFTER the Post Office has closed for the day? How will we pay? So Fabio, ever helpful, calls the satellite people. After pushing the usual zillion buttons to get a real person, and after being put on hold, he finally tells us…you pay AFTER it’s installed. We still don’t understand, but we’re not going to understand any more by asking more questions, so we leave it at that. I trust that it will work out okay.
And to make up for all our troubles and inconvenience, Fabio offers us two phone cards, good for five minutes each. I’m guessing that these are his way of making up for not being able to recharge my phone card when I was there last week. I’ve already decided that when I’m ready to recharge the new card, I’m going to have it done in Marsciano. Fabio just seems to be the poor soul for whom everything that can go wrong, does go wrong, at least with us. We gratefully accept the phone cards and leave. It won’t be until we try to use the cards several days later that we discover that the cards aren’t valid anymore…they expired on January 31st! Poor Fabio…he tries so hard, and it’s always something!
To continue on with the satellite installation, we finally had to call the SKY people. They told us that they were running behind, and that someone would call us soon. And sure enough, a day or two later, someone calls to set up installation for Tuesday morning at 9:30. Perfect. We’re ready. And Wendy has said that she’ll put the first year on her (Italian) credit card, so we won’t have that to worry about.
It was close to eleven when the installers arrived. They apologized for being late, and then asked where the TV was. Art told them we had two, one upstairs and one in the kitchen. The head installer told him that we could only have one TV hooked up. I was wishing that Wendy was here, so we could ask more questions. In the U.S., it was possible for us to have more than one TV hooked up, but they both had to show the same channel. Of course, if you wanted to buy more than one receiver, then it was possible to watch different channels on each set. All we really wanted was the good reception, but Art told the guy that the TV upstairs was the main one. After taking a look, he wasn’t happy with the situation. I’m not sure why, but it didn’t seem to be anything that was insurmountable. They started to work.
A short while later, he told Art that he couldn’t do the “normal” installation, because of the trees in the park behind us. “Normal” installation consists of installing the dish, called a parabola here, on the side of the house. Because of the orientation of the house, and the trees, we would need to mount the dish on the roof, and this would require more…more time, more work, and of course, more money. Remember, it’s Italy.
Since Gilberto was still working across the street, Art talked to him, and Gilberto and the installer talked. I think the work was something that could be done by either one of them, but Art preferred to have Gilberto do the work, and the installer agreed. Gilberto said that he could do what we needed, but would have speak with Mauro first. Art called Mauro and let Gilberto explain the situation to him. Because Gilberto had wet cement at his project across the street, it wouldn’t be possible for him to do our work today. Maybe tomorrow or day after tomorrow. The satellite guy left his number and told us to call him when the work was complete. I’m still unclear about what will be done. It doesn’t really seem to matter. I’m hoping the costs will be about the same as the antennae we were supposed to have installed but decided against…that way we won’t owe Mauro more money. No matter how much we try to save, and think we have saved, there’s always something that seems to come up, resulting in more money being spent!
As for the paying one year in advance, Wendy had called that morning to ask us who told us we’d have to pay a year in advance? The salesman at Euronics, of course. Well, she was there at Euronics to pay with her credit card, and all she had to pay was for the first two months. Maybe this is because it’s on a credit card, not through the Post Office. Maybe it’s because she has an Italian credit card. We have no idea. And how could she pay before the system was installed…did we now have an account number? Oh…now Art tells me…the account number is at the top of our paperwork…what that confusion was all about, I don’t know. Bill paying in Italy is so different than it is in the U.S., and it’s always interesting!
One bit of good news….a while back, on the SlowTrav message board, there had been a discussion about DVD players. For those of you who don’t know, DVD’s, and DVD players are “zoned”. The United States is zone 1. The discs and the players are specifically made for each other. Europe is zone 2. Zone 2 DVD’s won’t play in a zone 1 player, and zone 1 DVD’s, like the ones we brought with us from the states won’t play in zone 2 players, which is all they sell here. We had heard about a brand of DVD players that are “multi-zoned”, but they were $400+. We asked for advice on the SlowTrav message board, and as usual, got helpful advice. Someone told us that we could go to a place in Perugia and get our player “hacked” to play all zones for about 20 euro. Then Cristina, the moderator of the “Living in Italy” forum, told us a bout a website to check. At this site, you can type in the brand and model number of your DVD player and can find out if there is any way to change the settings without having to open up the machine, which voids the warranty.
When we checked for the system we had bought, a Philips, we discovered that by simply opening the tray, and hitting 99990 on the remote, the player would now play our DVD’s! Amazing! This was almost as good as finding out the directions for the system were also in English! So, not only did we save the 20 euro, we also saved a trip to Perugia, and the possibility of voiding our warranty. This probably won’t ever be a problem, but who knows? This was a wonderful shortcut that I guess the manufacturers plan for but don’t really publicize; I don’t fully understand all the reasons for the different zones to begin with.
This reminds me of the Beta/VHS mess back in the 70’s and 80’s. Everyone knows that Beta was, and still is, the superior system. Why VHS came to be the dominant system, I don’t know. Professionals still use the Beta system; it’s just not around for home use anymore, or at least not easily. Now it looks as if we are seeing the same situation with CD’s and with digital cameras. I always assumed that the dash ( - ) in CD-ROM, was just that….a dash. Now I find out it’s really a MINUS sign, and that there are also CD+ROMs, as well as a third, lesser known format. Didn’t these people learn anything from the Beta/VHS thing? And with digital cameras, there are also multiple formats, making it very confusing when you’re trying to buy a new card. I followed the recommendation of the man at the camera shop when I bought my Fuji digital. My camera uses an XD card, which he assured me was not only better in many ways, but was also the next “new” thing. I think that’s the same thing they told me when I bought my BetaMax.
MORE ABOUT TOGETHERNESS
After I posted my blog about togetherness, someone on the SlowTrav message board asked, “Is the honeymoon over?” Come on, people! Isn’t this something that everyone goes through? I know I tend to say out loud those things that most people only think to themselves, but for us, and for any couple planning to make a major move like we did, or even couples who are planning to retire, isn’t this a subject that deserves some thought and discussion?
It’s not like I’m manic-depressive, but I DO have a quick temper, and I do have mood changes, much more so than Art. In our situation, alone in a strange country, the stresses of daily living can be overwhelming. There’s the frustration of not being able to speak or understand Italian as much as we would like. And of missing our kids, and especially the grandkids! And of not being able to jump in the car and run to Target. For me, just being able to jump in the car to go anywhere would be nice. When you’re missing the kids, or feeling frustrated or depressed, there’s only one person around to take it out on…what would you do?
Everyone jokes about the husband who retires, then drives his wife crazy, hanging around the house, getting in her way, disrupting her schedule. This is certainly like that, and more so. We are both still finding our way, still scared, still nervous. Part of the frustration with not speaking or understanding Italian as well as we want is the underlying fear…will we EVER speak the language? Will our comprehension improve? When? Yes, I am understanding more, but never as much as I would like. I still can’t carry on a “normal” conversation. Art is much more advanced than I am, but I know his skills are still very basic, and it’s frustrating for him too. What do you do with that pent-up frustration?
I want to be able to go to the garden center, tell them I have a shady yard, and that I would like plants that require minimal upkeep for maximum performance. I would like to be able to ask what types of climbing, flowering plants they have. What colors are available? Does it continue to flower all summer? How high will it grow, and can I keep it pruned back? What about ground cover? Something low maintenance, but not too aggressive? And so on…just so that I can make an informed decision. And the fact that I can’t do this is very frustrating.
In the states, I had many friends to talk to. Sometimes it would be my sister, sometimes it would be Sherry. Or Beth. Or my daughter. When I needed a good sounding board, my mom was the best. She would always listen, and only when I asked for advice would she offer any. Most importantly, I wasn’t always dumping my problems or concerns on the same person, as I am now forced to do. I think most people have friends in different categories…friends you work with, friends you share special interests with, friends you have known for years. With each of these friends, you share specific problems. I would never dream of discussing certain things with my daughter…things that I would only share with my girlfriends. Now, Art is forced to be all these people rolled into one! And worst of all, he’s a man!!!
I remember reading in the “Venus and Mars” books that one of the basic differences between men and women is how they handle and solve problems. From what I recall, men are “fixers”. They want to fix the problem; they offer solutions. Women, on the other hand, often just need to talk it out. They aren’t always looking for solutions… they just need to talk about the situation, the possible solutions, then make a decision later. And this is where the problems can occur…when a woman is “venting” to her male friend, he wants to “fix” the problem, and gets upset when she doesn’t take his advice. He can’t understand why she asked for his help if she didn’t really want it. But for the woman, all she really wanted was a sounding board; someone who would mostly listen, maybe offer some sympathy or words of encouragement.
For people like us, who are each other’s only friends, this could cause problems. Art might find it difficult to only listen. He has solutions, and he doesn’t understand why I don’t take his advice. He might think my “talking it out” is just “bitching” or “whining”. Women know that these words are often used to describe what we say to our husbands or boyfriends. And women also know that this is not a fair assessment! For me, all I want (NEED!) to do is hear everything said out loud, know that Art has truly heard me, and then I’m okay! However much we might love each other, he can’t escape the fact that he is a man, anymore than I can escape the fact that I’m a woman! Disagreements are inevitable! It’s how you handle those disagreements, and being able to step back and realize what’s happening, and why.
So, no, the honeymoon is not over. Neither one of us has any doubts about our relationship. We “clicked” on our first date, and have never had any second thoughts or regrets. Neither one of us has ever doubted our decision to live in Italy. But, that doesn’t mean that we never disagree. We would have had disagreements had we stayed in the states. We would have gotten on each other’s nerves. Now maybe this wouldn’t have happened as often, because we would have had fewer frustrations, or maybe the frustrations would have been different. What I’m trying to say is that any relationship requires work, but most of all it requires awareness. And right now, we are both very aware that in the end, all we have is each other. And for us, that’s more than enough.
THE NEW GARAGE DOOR
The garage door is in place, and yesterday we put on the sign that says “Don’t block this space”. Art added a few screws to the bottom of the frame, per Gioberto’s recommendation. The car fits in nicely…not a lot of extra room, but enough room to open the door to get out of the car, and enough width so that we don’t have to pull the side mirrors in.
We also put up the brass door knocker that was a going away present from Art’s friends at Churchill Downs. We haven’t yet found a place for the brass name plate. I was hoping that it would work on our mailbox, but the area for the nameplate there is curved, and the one we have is rectangular. We do have our name up though, because we also put up the Louisville Stoneware plaque that was a gift when we bought our first house in 1990.
Today we are going to a crafts show in Marsciano. There were fliers advertising it all over town last week. It’s supposed to be a monthly event, held on the first Saturday of each month. Tomorrow we’ll check out the Expo Casa over in Bastia. I am looking for one or more small shelves or display cabinets for some of the smaller “things” I have collected over the years. I also have all the miniatures that I bought for my mom during our travels. She had an old type-setting case mounted on the wall, and the containers were just the right size to hold lots of tiny little things. So far, everything I’ve seen has been much more expensive than I had in mind.
TOGETHERNESS
I was thinking the other day that it’s amazing (to me, anyway) that Art and I haven’t killed each other yet, with all this togetherness we’ve been experiencing over these past months. Granted, we got a nice “break” from each other in December, but still….
Our personalities our similar in that we are both very opinionated people. We both like to be in charge. When we drive, each of us is sure that “our” way is the better way. I’m a terrible back seat driver, even when I’m sitting in the passenger’s seat. Art is much more patient than I am, but when he does lose his temper, watch out! He takes my bossing and bitching pretty well, for the most part. I am bossy and quick tempered, and never hesitate to voice my opinion. Art has been called arrogant by some. I never really thought of him as arrogant until we went on vacation with another couple. All of a sudden, he became the authority on EVERYTHING! He never said, “I THINK this…..” or “I’ve HEARD this….”. Everything was absolute fact, and it drove me crazy!!! Who was this person? I had never seen this side of him before! I tried to be considerate, and not correct him in front of other people. I finally had to tell him, “look, you’re driving me crazy!”, although he still didn’t understand why.
We both know couples who have worked together. Not as in working in the same place, but as in working side by side, day after day. Year after year. That never appealed to either one of us…a little too much togetherness. Maybe we don’t love each other enough, or maybe both people have to be different personality types, but for whatever reason, this never appealed to either one of us. Now that we are retired, and I’m dependent on Art for his driving ability, we find ourselves in a position very similar to this.
When you are together 24/7, it helps to like the person you’re with. Loving them is not enough. You have to really, really like them, and respect them, and then you have to bite your tongue a LOT. This is not something I’m very good at, but I’m working on it. Art has a sore tongue ALL time. Luckily for us, we seem to be meeting this challenge, but it’s not easy. For either of us. When I was thinking about how well we have gotten along, I was also thinking about WHY we’re here. WHY did we give up all the comforts we were used to? Things that everyone takes for granted, like being able to understand the phone bill or the evening news? Or being able to read a magazine or newspaper? Or knowing who to call to solve a problem? Or being able to understand the person you call? So that got me to thinking about our move, and what our choices were.
To summarize, Art is 57. I am 52. Art was eligible to retire from the Post Office, and had the option to retire from Churchill Downs as well. Retirement from the track meant that he was limited to the number of days he could work, but he could still work there. Or, he could have just retired from the Post Office and kept on working for the track. The longer he worked at both jobs, the greater his pension would be when he did retire. For me, I had only been at the Post Office since 1994 and in the Federal retirement system since 1990. The earliest retirement option for me was at age 60, with 20 years of service. But from what we hear now, life at the Post Office continues to get worse and worse. The new district manager is making everyone’s life a living hell, and in retrospect, it’s a blessing we escaped when we did! Here are the options that we had, and the ramifications for each of them:
Option #1 was to keep working as we were. For Art, the burden of working two jobs was starting to take its toll. Thirty years ago, the job at the track started out as seasonal work, and had gradually become year round work. At one time he was driving to Lexington for the spring and fall meets there, but eventually gave that up in favor of working in Louisville, once Churchill Downs opened their OTB (off track betting) facility. For Art, this meant that he now worked seven days a week…and at least four of those days he worked both jobs. He loved his job at the Post Office, but his hours were early, partly to accommodate his job at the track. This made for some VERY long days. As for his job at the track, he always said it wasn’t like a job at all, but more like fun. I hated the fact that the track required him to be gone every Saturday and Sunday, and many holidays as well. We never had much free time together. This was one of the reasons Art enjoyed vacations so much.
Two years ago, Art fulfilled one of his life-long dreams, and bought a brand new BMW. This meant that he would have to keep working until it was paid for. For him, it was worth it, but for me, I just wasn’t sure that the cost to his health, and to our time together, was worth it. Once we made the decision to move to Italy, the car was sold immediately, but had we stayed in the states, I’m sure Art would have kept the car, and kept working. Option #1 would have also meant that our trips to Italy would be limited to once or twice a year, two, maybe three weeks at a time. Definitely not enough!
Option #2 was for Art to retire from the Post Office and keep working at the track.
I would have kept working too. This way we could have more free time together, but maybe not have enough money to visit Italy as often as we would have liked! Our vacations would also have been limited to my vacation schedule at work, since I was always the low person on the totem pole. At least Art would have had more flexibility. To take up some of the financial slack, I could have tried to bid on a full time job, but once again, my low seniority would have made it difficult for me to get day work. This option would have probably meant that Art would have had to sell his car. And we would still only be able to visit Italy occasionally, due to financial constraints.
Option #3 would have been for both of us to retire. For me, this would have meant quitting and deferring my retirement until age 62. We would have to live on Art’s pension(s) only. We had considered moving to Florida and buying a small house. We had checked out areas around Jacksonville and also around Tampa. But, this plan would have meant that we would have very little money, and certainly not enough money to go to Italy. If only we had been born rich, or had won the lottery, we could have had a house in Florida, and still had a home in Italy! Which brought us to option #4….
Retire, sell everything, and just move to Italy! No, we don’t have a lot of money, but we’re HERE! For me, the idea of being RETIRED, of never having to work again, at age 52, is amazing! For Art, after 30+ years of working two jobs, he was MORE than ready, and has certainly earned it! Since we have the flexibility, we can fly home when the fares are cheap, or search for a great deal. And as long as we can afford the airfare, we hope to be able to stay in the states with friends or family, thus saving the cost of lodging. Is this the perfect solution? No. We still miss friends and family. We still miss the conveniences of life in the states. We still struggle with the language every day. But, for now, this was the best choice for us. We both got to retire. We get to be in Italy, the country that chose us. So far, we get to visit the states and keep in touch with family and friends on a fairly regular basis. And we haven’t killed each other yet!
HAVING THE OIL CHANGED
We took the car to the Ford dealership today for an oil change. When we bought it, it was a demo car, and had only 3,000 km, and we were told to have the oil changed at 15,000 km. Art looked at the oil a week or two ago, and it looked pretty dirty, so although it only has 10,000 km, we decided to go ahead and have it changed now.
To back up a bit, about three weeks ago, while having the car washed, the guy told Art that the tires were starting to wear, and suggested we have them rotated. Knowing this car was a demo, you know they haven’t been rotated, so we set up an appointment to have that done. In the meantime, one of the bulbs in our headlights burned out. Thanks goodness we don’t have those xenon lights…I know they’re very expensive. Anyway, while we were having the tires rotated, we asked the guy if he could change the bulb for us, but after fifteen minutes of trying, they were unable to open the hood!!!
We took the car across the street to an authorized Ford mechanic, since the car is still under warranty, but he wasn’t able to open it either. He suggested we take it to the Ford body shop in Ponte San Giovanni. At this point, I have to step back and remind you that for Italy, this is normal. There are no simple problems, no quick solutions. For some reason, things seem to get more and more complicated, and there never seems to be a good reason why…that’s just the way it is.
Okay, so we stop by the body shop in Ponte San Giovanni. They tell us that we will have to bring the car in one morning and leave it all day, because the car will need to be cold before they can work on it…the guy tells Art they’ll have to go up from below in order to open it. This doesn’t seem like an option…what are we going to do…sit around the body shop all day? Ask Wendy to pick us up…and take us …where? So, Art decides that he’ll just make the appointment for the oil change and let them figure it out then.
So, this morning we went to the dealership service center, bringing along the bulb for the headlight. Art explained about the light and also about the hood, and we drove right in. It took three mechanics about twenty minutes, but they finally got the hood open! And, a new part has been ordered, so hopefully we won’t need to get under the hood until it arrives. After about two hours, the car was ready….apparently no such thing as a quick oil change. And then I see the bill…135 EURO!!! WHAT?!?!
Turns out they did the 20,000 km service, since the car is over a year old, which I agree with. And of course, the oil change by itself cost more than it would in the states…after all, gas is more expensive, so it seems reasonable that oil would cost more too. And I know from experience that when those regular maintenance times roll around, they’re never cheap…my Acura cost close to $300 for one of the checks. So, after all is said and done, I guess it wasn’t too bad. But, be forewarned…when you are in a country and aren’t fluent, things like this become very difficult.
We drove to San Sisto, where the service center is located, by way of the back roads this morning. We had about an inch of snow last night, and this morning, although the roads were clear, it was foggy and still rainy. Driving wasn’t really a problem, but since we weren’t in a hurry, we decided to avoid the stress of the E45. While we were wating in the garage, it alternated between rain and snow much of the time, but seemed to be over by the time we left.
We had to make a quick stop in Perugia to pay for the Detroit-Louisville leg of our plane tickets, but after that, we headed back to Marsciano. We stopped at Ternana’s for a quick lunch and a loaf of Marco’s bread then ran in the Coop for milk and a few other necessities. As we started back up to San Venanzo, it started to rain, and I said to Art, “it’s probably snowing in San Venanzo.” I was glad to be wrong in that prediction, but it was still a gloomy day.
Once we got back home, we discovered that the garage door had been installed! Hurray! Gioberto was still added a few last minutes touches…mostly stuff that he wanted to do…he added some extra supports and screws….I’m not sure where, since I was in the house while Art was getting the lowdown on this, but as usual, if Gioberto is doing the job, we’re confident it’s being done right.
My throat was starting to get scratchy, so I decided to take a nap. Art told me that no sooner had I gone to bed than it started to snow…HUGE, FAT, WET flakes of snow! And it continued to snow for several hours. Our streets, which previously had just been wet, were covered with heavy snow by nightfall. Glad we’re all stocked up! Art said that when he went outside, it was snowing so hard he had to take the umbrella, and that the flakes were so heavy you could actually hear them hitting the umbrella!
On another subject, I bought material for the living room curtains the other day, and “made” them using the “stitch-witchery” bonding stuff I bought in January. The material we chose is a terra cotta color, with a tone-on-tone design…simple but nice. I’m please with the way they turned out, except I wish I could have sewn them, but you have to go with what you’ve got! At least they’re up!
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Spina Bifida
